Just in Time for His Menswear Show, Gosha Rubchinskiy Adds Film to His Résumé

What is Gosha Rubchinskiy, one of the young designers whose post-Soviet take on streetwear has made ripples across the industry, up to, off the runway? Plenty: Aside from releasing books like Youth Hotel and exhibiting his photographs, the designer has just released a film entitled The Day of My Death, in conjunction with today’s debut of his latest menswear collection. The 17-minute-long black and white silent film was directed by the acclaimed Russian director, screenwriter, and actress Renata Litvinova. Rubchinskiy and Litvinova were introduced to each other by stylist Lotta Volkova, and she has clearly been quickly taken up by the hot young things of the design world: Litvinova’s Instagram is filled with snaps of her hanging out with Rubchinskiy and Demna Gvasalia, of Vetements and Balenciaga fame. According to Litvinova, the trio became friends after they found that they were all connected by the ghost of the murdered, controversial Italian author and director, Pier Paolo Pasolini. More on that in a minute.

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Photo: Courtesy of Renata Litvinova / @renatalitvinovaofficiall

Pasolini’s work often included themes that ranged from the religious to sexual in nature—reflective of his life as a controversial and openly gay political and cultural figure in the turbulent Rome of the 1960s and 1970s—and wielded a hefty posthumous influence over the film. “We were inspired by Pier Paolo Pasolini, his story, his poems, his films, and finally his murder, which has been sealed for 10 years,” Litvinova said in an email. “His reputation was being blackened, and we decided to bring the justice back: Pier Paolo is a genius, an artist, who suffered for his principles.” The short film’s cast is made up of those close to Rubchinskiy, including Litvinova herself, Litvinova’s daughter Uliana Dobrovskaya, Volkova, models Lousion and Titouan Savignoni, as well as Rubchinskiy himself, who makes a brief Hitchcock-like cameo in the role of a Russian soldier.

Though the setting is stark—an abandoned tobacco factory from the 1930s (also the setting for today’s show)—the short film is brimming with erotic tension. Litvinova has a slicked-back, mafioso-style coif, walks with a braggadocio swagger, and wears a slouchy, broad-shouldered suit; Volkova plays the part of a solider, donning a military uniform and rakish Soviet-style side cap. Throughout the film, there’s the exchange of longing gazes, which eventually unfold into stripped-down scenes, and a bit of subsequent violence. Just like Rubchinskiy’s collections, the piece is something that might require multiple viewings. See it exclusively here.